A woman reported hearing someone in her back yard along High Street. As officers arrived, the man had gone into the next yard over.

Next door, the officers found a broken window where the man had tried to go inside, Snell said. Officers brought in a dog to track down the man’s whereabouts.

Then, another neighbor called 911 to report the man knocking on a window, Snell said.

“He tried to get in, and they told him to go away, so he started hopping over fences,” Snell said. “They indicated they believed he was naked.”

The man was found in a home a few blocks away along Friday Avenue. He’d slipped through an unlocked door. Three women and a baby were home. The women grabbed the baby and ran into an upstairs bathroom.

The man chased after them and began pounding on the door. Officers already were outside.

“We heard the commotion from inside, the screams for help, so we broke in the door,” Snell said.

Officers had to break through a second door to get to the man. He was arrested without further incident.

The man, 26, of Everett, was being held Monday for investigation of burglary and trespassing.

Most burglars will leave a house if they find someone inside, Snell said. Reports of struggles are rare.

Such confrontations can be deadly, though. Homeowners in 2012 shot and killed two intruders in Snohomish County.